The Los Angeles Film Fest, which had it's opening night yesterday and kicks off in full swing today, has been the true kick-off of summer for me every year for a good decade or so, since its days at an arthouse 5-plex to its new incarnation at the home of the biggest non-Imax movie screen in town. In the early days, I used to automatically get sent a pass, and back then, the passholder lounge had an open bar that got started around 2 p.m. (it's now 6 p.m.), so some days I'd do little besides down free vodkas for ten hours - Absolut's newest flavor of the moment would typically debut around that time. It may be surprising to hear that I had brain cells enough to remember the movies, but experiences over the years have included watching what I thought was a docudrama about a genuinely passive aggressive martial-arts instructor, only to learn it was some North Carolina actor named Danny McBride, who struck me as being too authentically redneck (in a good way) to ever work again. I remember seeing my friend Lucky McKee's first solo directorial feature May on the big screen, and scoring extra tickets for some guy named Drew McWeeny, who at the time was pretending to be Sherlock Holmes' arch-enemy online.

I'm pretty sure it was there that I first saw Fahrenheit 9/11, with Samuel L. Jackson in attendance, and the director of the Walking Tall remake sitting beside me. I know there was a big-time shift in size when they went with big summer movies for opening and closing for the first time, and tried to disguise it by saying they were selections from acclaimed international directors - which was true, but misleading. Those movies were Hellboy II and Wanted.

So why should you care if you don't live in my neck of the woods? Basically, because you can be among the first to know about some of the movies that will come to festivals and theaters near you in the coming months and even years (The Foot Fist Way took a while). And I'm not going to waste your time with the equivalent of "gay cowboys eatin' puddin'" flicks - sorry, Abraxas! - because there's plenty of stuff that's of nerd interest without trying to shoehorn in the more traditional festival fare. One cool innovation this year is that they're selling passes to JUST the free booze lounge and nothing else - it's $150, but you can get it in eight evenings of unlimited drunkenness, so that's at least a break-even deal if you have a journalist's tolerance.

Including that new My Little Pony movie some of y'all are so worked up about. Yes, you wanted me to attempt to review it, and that is precisely what I shall do.

Some of my picks, in alphabetical order (I hope - it's been a long day), are after the jump. I will try to see and review as many of these as my schedule allows.

The Act of KillingPremise: Actual participants in global genocides are invited to reenact their own atrocities - many of which are considered heroic in their home countries - in stylized tableaux based on classic movie genres. They start to have second thoughts about what they did.Why it could rule: It's provocative, twisted, and might cast a light on genuine human evil.Why it could suck: Same reason, if the tone feels off in any way.

Casting ByPremise: A documentary about casting director Marion Dougherty, who among other things teamed up Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon.Why it could rule: Casting is one of those fascinating areas of movie production that remains little-explored onscreen. And yet it's something we all do in our heads...and on website comments.Why it could suck: If it focuses more on talking heads telling us how great Dougherty was, rather than looking at the ins and outs of her actual work, it'll be a bore.

The ConjuringPremise: Vera Farmiga runs afoul of a supernatural presence that occasionally manifests as ghostly clapping hands.Why it could rule: It's based on "the case files of married demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren." Married demonologists. What are the odds that you choose that line of work and find another person in it at all, let alone one you love? This may be a scary movie, but it indirectly proves that there's someone for everyone, even if your obsession is creepy and strange. That should hearten everybody reading this.Why it could suck: When a supernatural horror movie is "based on a true story," there's little to no chance of a satisfactory resolution if they stick to the facts. Probably they will not.

DeliveryPremise: A found-footage horror movie about a pregnant woman who's convinced something's very wrong with her unborn child. Too bad she's being filmed for a reality show!Why it could rule: The reality show producers might meet a horrifying end.Why it could suck: Depends. How much did you like the demon baby in The Last Exorcism?

Ernest & CelestinePremise: A mouse and a bear are friends.Why this could rule: It's animation from the crazy French filmmakers who did A Town Called Panic, which featured the insane adventures of a toy cowboy and Indian.Why this could suck: It's about a fucking mouse and a bear who are friends.

Europa ReportPremise: A mission to the moon of Jupiter has clearly not included a briefing on the works of Arthur C. Clarke, and the crew encounters mysterious danger there.Why it could rule: Star Sharlto Copley, whose performance in District 9 went from pathetic to powerful, all while wearing heavy makeup and acting against imaginary costarsWhy it could suck: For all the talk of it taking the science very seriously, the trailer appears to be hewing to found-footage conventions in a manner that detracts from the seriousness.

The Fifth SeasonPremise: The apocalypse is coming. How do we know? Because the cows have stopped producing milk. Yes, really.Why it could rule: It's a German-French-Dutch take on End Times, which will make it weird.Why it could suck: That's a pretty lame sign of the apocalypse. Wouldn't Germans just bust out some beer if the milk ran out?

Goodbye WorldPremise: A couple and their young daughter live their lives "off the grid," but when a cyber-attack cripples the nation, they suddenly find a whole lot of old friends and family deciding to visit. First they all party, but then the reality of a nation falling apart seeps in.Why it could rule: Apocalypse movies usually do.Why it could suck: If it's not ABOUT the apocalypse, but about who the characters really ARE, man!

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly FictionPremise: Harry Dean Stanton. Any questions?Why it could rule: Because from Repo Man to Alien to Red Dawn to The Avengers - and his odd take on the Apostle Paul in The Last Temptation of Christ - Stanton is the man. I've even forgiven him for The Care Bears Movie.Why it could suck: It would take a really shitty director to make Harry Dean Stanton suck, but I suppose it's possible. He was in You, Me and Dupree, after all.

@LYT@Gallen_Dugall The anime eye thing is because it's easier for the cartoonists to express normally subtle eye based expressions that way. The Simpsons have four fingers because hands are hard to draw and so four fingers is easier on the cartoonists. I'm not seeing the relevance, but I'm just glad it's aberrant.

@Timely-Tardis-Lego@Gallen_Dugall@LYT yeah, I understand where you're coming from there, no one I know in this area has the same interests as me either (except some married with children people who never have the time), that's why I don't go out to the movies much

I went to see Toy Story by myself back when I was in the navy and had theater management called on me because I was an adult by myself, last time I did that

@LYT@Gallen_Dugall Humans come in a lot of colors. A LOT OF COLORS. I know it's popular to call people white and black or whatever but the number of shades is pretty astounding. So much so that the Simpsons are orange and people barely notice.

Traditionally in anime the hair is what's given an unusual color - they do that to make the characters (who all share the same basic shape) easier to identify.